Five people were killed in the Netherlands and Germany as powerful winds toppled trees, blew trucks off the road and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport briefly suspended all air traffic as gusts of up to 140km/h were recorded along the coast.
At least 260 flights were scrapped and falling roof tiles led to the closure of airport terminals.
Nationwide train services and many tram and bus services were halted after the highest weather alert was issued.
In Rotterdam, shipping containers were toppled and entire roofs ripped off homes, TV showed.
Schiphol later said some flights would resume as the storm moved inland, but that there would be severe delays.
A number of flights to and from Amsterdam and Dublin were cancelled.
The storm, called Friederike in Germany, is due to cross the country before reaching Poland overnight.
In Germany, a 59-year-old man was killed by a falling tree in Emmerich near the Dutch border, a spokesman for the town said.
Some 100,000 people in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and in the northern state of Lower Saxony were left without power, a spokesman for German energy company Westnetz said.
He said the company hoped to restore power to those users in several hours provided the storm did not cause further damage.
Railway operator Deutsche Bahn said it had suspended all long-distance rail services across the country, leaving hundreds of thousands of travellers and commuters stranded.
"Since this affects many long-distance connections, thereare effects on the entire rail services, also internationally," Deutsche Bahn said.
Train travel was also disrupted in northern Germany while some bridges and some stretches of roads were closed in North Rhine-Westphalia..
In Munich, eight domestic flights by Lufthansa were cancelled, the airport operator said.
